This invention relates to an improved fuel processor device and particularly a baffle particularly suited for fuel processor devices having closely adjacent fuel inlet and outlet ports.
In the past, when diesel fuel and other hydrocarbon fuels were plentiful and comparatively inexpensive, there were relatively few problems with the quality of fuel. Refineries, distributors, and retailers were careful to keep water out of fuel, and they usually did not pump out the heavy settlings from the bottom of the storage tanks. In more recent times, however, fuel suppliers have been providing fuel with increased quantities of water and other contaminants. Also, in the past, kerosene and other fuels with lower paraffin formation (cloud) and pour points were blended with diesel fuel for cold weather use. Fuel allocations due to government regulations, fuel stock availability, refinery capacity and other factors have now made it almost impossible to continue this practice. The result of these developments has been a tendency toward lower quality fuel oils containing substantially more impurities such as water, waxes, paraffins, heavier compounds and particulates which can be very disruptive to the proper operation of fuel oil consuming devices such as diesel engines. Such impurities can cause fuel line stoppages when they accumulate, or due to freezing, when exposed to cold weather conditions.
In order to overcome the above-mentioned fuel quality problems, operators of diesel engine-powered equipment are incorporating fuel conditioning devices which serve as water separators, impurity filters, and fuel heaters. Several of such devices are described by my issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,368,716; 4,428,351; 4,395,996; 4,421,090; 4,495,069; and by my copending patent applications Ser. Nos. 573,292, filed Jan. 23, 1984; and 641,866, filed Aug. 17, 1984. These issued patents and applications are hereby incorporated by reference. Devices constructed according to the teachings of the above-mentioned issued patents and pending applications for patent provide excellent fuel heating, water separation, and filtration performance. These devices are, however, essentially stand-alone units which are mounted remotely from the engine or associated fuel consuming apparatus and therefore require dedicated mounting provisions, mounting hardware, and fuel conduit connection provisions. Due to the expense and time needed to install these devices, many operators of diesel engine-powered equipment avoid installing them and later experience problems related to fuel contamination and/or fuel flow stoppage after exposure to cold conditions.
Most motor vehicle diesel engines and other fuel oil consuming devices have a filter mounting block which accommodates a particulate filter. Existing particulate filters are generally of two types. One type is the so-called spin-on filter which employs an integral filter element inside a throw-away canister which is threaded onto a boss on the filter mounting block. Another type of filter is the cartridge type which employs an outer canister having an internal replaceable filter element. The cartridge type fuel filter device is normally held in position using a through bolt which engages a threaded bore within the filter mounting block.
In view of the need for fuel processors which provide excellent performance and which can be installed conveniently and inexpensively, I invented a family of fuel processing devices which may be interchanged for fuel filters since they can be mounted directly to conventional fuel filter mounting blocks. These devices are described in my copending patent application Ser. No. 624,413, filed June 25, 1984 (hereinafter referred to as the parent application), which is the parent application to this continuation-in-part application. The several embodiments described in the parent application relate to fuel processors having various mounting provisions, overall configurations, and numerous combinations of elements such as impurity sensors, drain valves, heaters, etc. These fuel processors, by virtue of being designed to mount to existing filter mounting blocks, have fuel inlet and outlet ports within the upper end of their canister housing. Without taking steps to control the flow of fuel within these types of fuel processors, filter contamination and poor thermal efficiency can result when the incoming fuel is permitted to directly contact the surface of the filter element before it is heated and water and other impurities are removed.
The present invention is related to an improvement in the form of a fluid flow baffle, particularly suited for fuel processors of the type described in the parent application which have closely adjacent fuel inlets and outlets. The fluid flow baffle according to this invention acts as a barrier to separate incoming fuel from fuel flowing out of the processor to thereby enhance performance and extend the operational lifespan of the processor filter element.
Additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates from the subsequent description of the preferred embodiments and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.